How to curb cravings???

Question

I am dieting. I eat about 5 meals a day, 2 regular size and 3 small (breakfast bar, some almonds, pb sand, etc). I do great during the day, but at night, i start to crave carbs and many times i lose control and overeat. I am drinking lots of water to try and help, but it doesn't seem to be working. I am tired of ruining all my hard work during the day within half an hour at night, any help???

Answer 1

A study conducted found that drinking 12 ounces of water at night will curb the evening munchies. The brain can sometimes misinterpret hunger for thirst.

Personally, I recommend rice cakes. The plain ones taste like styrofoam, but the little ones that come in different flavors are tasty and very low calorie. I have 8 of the little ones, which is 80 calories, with a glass of water. It is very filling.

Answer 2

Really it is mind over matter. I was the same way. But I heard that if you eat late at night then all your hard work during the day is wasted. I thought what is the point of exercising and eating healthy if I am not going to see results all because I eat at night. It was hard but now I do not eat 3 hours before bed and if helped take off weight. A few things you can do is eat fiber at your last meal. the fiber keeps you fuller for a longer period of time. Drink a sugar free tea if you are really craving. Brush your teeth when you start to crave. Think about all your efforts during the day and the result of losing weight. I hope this helps. Good luck and have a great and healthy day.

Answer 3

Your body craves what it knows has some of the nutrients that are missing from your day. Try eating more balanced meals. Make sure you are getting adequate protein, carbs and a very small amount of fat. If what you are eating is empty calories, like white breads, jelly's, and things like fats that your body cannot use immeadiatly for energy than you will creave these things based on what your body knows. A good diet plan is 20 gm protein, 40 gm carbs and under 6 grams of fat 5-6 times per day. This will make your total calories about 13-1600 per day.

Answer 4

You are trying to follow a strict low carb diet, but all you can think about is bread. Why does eating one cookie set off an incredible urge to finish the entire bag? You're feeling very stressed out — the candy bar in the vending machine is calling your name.

Sound familiar? Food cravings are normal and are experienced by most people at one time or another. However, many women with PCOS experience carbohydrate cravings on a daily basis. Why do women with PCOS experience frequent carb cravings and is there anything that can be done about it?
Cravings are a common response to skipping meals or severely limiting your caloric intake. When your intake of calories is too low, your brain senses famine and produces extra neuro peptide Y (NPY). This is a brain chemical that encourages you to eat carbs. Your brain releases another chemical, galanin, which encourages you to eat and store fat.

Eating too few carbs can actually trigger cravings for more carbs. Carbohydrate rich foods contain tryptophan, an amino acid which leads to production of a brain chemical called serotonin. Low levels of serotonin lead to insomnia, depression, increased sensitivity to pain and cravings for carbohydrate. Once carbs are eaten, serotonin levels rise, mood improves and food cravings are decreased. However, if too many carbs are eaten, especially in the form of sugary foods, your insulin levels will rise even higher, which will make carb cravings worse. The key is moderation and selecting more whole grain carbs versus white or sugary carbs.
prevent the craving:

Do not skip meals. Eat three meals and include snacks in between meals. Try not to let more than 5 hours go between meals and snacks. This will help keep blood sugar more level.
Include protein, fat and carbohydrate at each meal and snack if possible. For example, instead of just having a large apple for a snack, try having 1/2 of an apple with 2 tsp of peanut butter . Instead of having a 2 oz bag of pretzels for a snack, have a mini 1 oz bag of pretzels with a stick of mozzarella string cheese. This can help keep blood sugar more level.
Eat your snacks whether you are hungry or not. This will help ward off the drop in blood sugar that may happen. Once your sugar drops, it is very difficult to control the sugar cravings that probably will occur.
Keep food records. Try to identify patterns in your food cravings. Record any emotions that may be occurring prior to or right before the craving. This can help identify the cause of the craving. You may experience sugar cravings every afternoon at 3 pm. This could mean that you need to eat an appropriate snack at 3 pm. It could also mean that what you have had for lunch is not the best choice for you. Maybe you crave carbohydrates when you are stressed out.
Avoid very low calorie diets. Eating less than 1200 calories on a regular basis will likely lead to food cravings.
Include some carbs into your diet. Ideally, include a carb rich food at each meal, of course, limiting portion sizes! Focus more on whole grain carbs such as brown rice, oatmeal, 7 grain bread, bulgur wheat?, etc.
If you know you have a serious "trigger" food, avoid taking the first bite. For some people, taking the first bite of certain foods can open the floodgates to uncontrolled eating! Keeping food records can help to identify a trigger food.
Avoid keeping trigger foods in your house or office if possible. The less temptation you have, the better.

Once you have the craving:
If you really crave a food (ie. chocolate), you have 3 choices — avoid it totally, allow yourself a small portion when you feel the craving (ie. 2 Hershey's kisses a day) or find a substitute (ie. Swiss Miss sugar free hot chocolate).
Try to wait 15 minutes before giving in to a craving. Try to engage in another activity such as taking a brief walk or making a phone call. Sometimes even a 5 minute distraction can help ward off the cravings.
If you do give into the craving and eat more than you would have liked, do not beat yourself up. Try to learn from the craving. What could you have done differently to have prevented the craving or how could you have dealt with it differently? Let it go — we are all human. Guilt is a very useless emotion when it comes to food — it only makes things worse!

Answer 5

Find healthier subsitutes for what you crave. Instead of chips with your sandwich, have some wheat thins. Instead of chocolate have a slim fast... etc

Answer 6

drink fruit flavored fitness water